He stepped in what????

Here we are in Juneau. This time, when we got off the ship, we were able to walk down the gangplanks to shore. We sat in the cold waiting for the shuttle for our tour, The Mendenhal Glacier and Gold Coast Salmon Bake. I have never been so cold in my life….well, a few times, but that’s another story.

Seems like everyone was going to the glacier, as there were about 20 buses. We arrive, and of course, it’s drizzling. We didn’t mind tho…knowing that when we returned home, there would be no rain.

Biggest dang chunk of ice I ever laid eyes upon. We are told that you can look at it, walk on it, walk under it, fly over it, you just can’t chip at it. We opted to look at it from a safe distance, only because I’m not walking on anything that could at any moment, melt or break up. So I kept my feet planted firmly on the cement.

As many of you know…the one thing that I want to see while in Alaska, is a bear. Well, guess what? When you get to the site of Mendenhal, there are signs EVERYWHERE warning about bear. Do not run if approached by a bear. Do not feed the bears. Do not touch the bear. Just leave the bear alone. Well, guess what walks into the parking lot? Yep, not one but three bear. A mama bear and her two cubs. Women panicked and ran, men started to through food at them, and a few others wanted to pet them. Where was I? I was up in the observatory, looking at the big chunk of ice….oblivious to what is happening outside about 50 yards from me. I didn’t find this out until we got back on the bus, and most of the other people were talking about it. If it’s any consolation, I did see a pile of bear dung, and from the looks of it…it was pretty fresh.

Next stop was the Salmon Bake and BBQ. Duane loves salmon, so he feasted like a king….while I nibbled on a few ribs. We had to eat under canopy’s, as it was pouring. We had to hurry and eat…as we had something else that needed more of our time……S H O P P I NG.

By the time we got downtown Juneau, it had stopped raining….and the sun was trying to come out. Duane bought me a most gorgeous Tanzanite ring. Gems are one of Alaska’s hot commodities, and being that this is almost the end of their season, all prices were marked down. We also shopped for the kids, and were able to get them all something. I was also able to pick something up for the girls back in the office.

We really weren’t able to spend a lot of time in Juneau, as we had to be back on board by 1:00 to go to yet another glacier. As we sailed into one of the fjords, I noticed that we were passing by chunks of ice and icebergs. It was rather unsettling as they kept playing the theme song from The Titanic movie. Some of these chunks were larger than my house. The blue ice just glistened in the water. The blue was so blue. We also saw lots of seals sitting on the ice. At first we didn’t know what they were…until they started to move and slide off the iceberg and into the water. The ship went into the middle of the fjord, and did what they call a spin on their axis. This way, it would give the whole ship a chance to view everything.

We were watching the glacier as it calved…and what a noise that made. Impressive. Seeing tons of ice falling off, and hitting the ocean, and since it was so quiet….the noise made the huge rumbling sound, much like an earthquake when it hits. These fjords and the most calmest waters around, and the most beautiful lest also. The water looks an emerald green. I’m told that the fjords are like a hundred feet deep, and hundreds of feet high. As we traveled out of the fjord, the wake of the ship caused some of the chunks of ice to roll. Now that is a sight to see.

We dined this evening in lobster and steak. We had some wine, which by the way we are not used to. If it doesn’t come with a screw cap or in a six-pack, then we’re lost. LOL. We just are not the connoisseurs of the vino like others we know, LOL

Onto Skagway….